Chapter 80 - Fishing (2/2)

'Tomorrow is gonna be a long day.'

Sighing, Will relaxed as he pondered the rest of the advice Modus had given him.

...

Modus had taken the time to explain how beings outside the system cultivated, which would become more important as Will grew stronger.

The process of cultivation was divided into certain levels, which were each divided into sub-levels. The majority of cultivators in the system we're stuck on the first level. They rarely contacted those in the second or third levels.

Cultivation was possible without the system, but then a few details would change.

Outside the system, each level had a name, with the first being the Foundation Realm. This cultivation realm was divided into nine sub-levels. These nine were equally divided into three parts, with each part containing their own three sub-levels. The first sub-level of a part was referred to as lower, the second, middle, and the third, upper. Levels 1 to 100 in the system corresponded to the Foundation Realm.

The names of the three parts had different names depending on whether one was a warrior or a mage. For mages, the parts were Novice, Acolyte and Scholar. For warriors, the parts were respectively Student, Fighter, and Teacher.

For example, if one were in the Foundation Realm and in the seventh mage sub-level, one would be a lower Scholar.

As one upgraded between parts, one experienced a qualitative leap in power, and the differences in ability between each part increased the higher your cultivation was. For example, the difference in strength between a Novice and an Acolyte was far smaller than the differences between an Acolyte and a Scholar. One Acolyte could barely defeat ten Novices, but one needed more than a hundred Acolytes to beat one Scholar.

To cultivate, one needed to feel World Energy in an environment and incorporate it into one's body. Ones own aptitude determined whether one became a mage or warrior. Some bodies only produced warrior qi whereas others could only produce mage mana.

There were three major factors that determined the quality of one's energy. The first was talent and ones elemental affinity; the second was hard work; the third was your cultivation method.

All qi and mana consisted of at least one of the five basic elements: earth, fire, wood, water, and metal.

Most beings were born with little to no elemental affinity. Some were born with a high affinity to one element while talented people were born with an affinity toward two elements. Meanwhile, prodigies with affinities to three or more elements were as rare as unicorns; one could even say they were practically myths.

Cultivation methods were instruction manuals on how to move mana or qi in certain paths around your body. Like an electric circuit, the more times one moved their energy in a particular path, the higher the energy quality one would possess and the greater capacity ones body would have for energy.

This energy moved according to ones will through one's blood vessels but was actually intangible and had no noticeable effect on bodily functions.

Although having an affinity to multiple elements had advantages, it also had disadvantages.

Wills body had a perfect affinity for multiple elements; one could say he was a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy. According to Modus, Wills affinity with space due to him having the Space Gate would become vital in the future, but he refused to explain in detail, only saying that Will wasn't ready for such information.

Once Modus left, Will realized how complex cultivation was. It was not simply meditating to improve. There were gates, doors, cultivation levels, the Dao, intent, elemental affinity and probably many other factors he was unaware of. To be the top, Will had to understand all these and master them to the best of his abilities. The question was, what was his limit?

Will smirked as he thought of all the possibilities. He had no intention of waiting for the backup. He wanted to solo the dungeon by himself and give the visitors a nasty surprise.